Linda Byrne
Editor 

As Hurricane Allen barreled toward Corpus Christi in 1980, a city official took to the airwaves to order an evacuation. His brief message ended with (I believe this is a direct quote): “Don’t everybody all leave at once.”

End of broadcast.

And of course, everybody left at once and Interstate 37 turned into a parking lot.

There’s no doubt that a better message would have been: “I am implementing the Emergency Disaster Plan we adopted two years ago. Under that plan, people with disabilities and families with young children are to leave in the next six hours, followed by those whose license plates end in an odd number…” or whatever.

That’s what leadership is.

It is with this example in mind that Boerne residents must dissect Mayor Dan Heckler’s recent warning at the Esperanza public hearing: “Do not let this decision tear the city apart.”

OK, fine, and Step 2 is…?

Have city officials considered the possibility that when a complex issue is placed before the citizenry, that people will simplify that issue by ignoring clauses and subsections and focusing on the process?

In that context, releasing a 186-page development agreement at 4:45 p.m. on a Friday afternoon and then scheduling a public hearing three business days later, on Ash Wednesday yet, doesn’t appear to be a strategy one would expect from proponents of consensus and transparency in government.

Several residents have called or e-mailed this newspaper with their frustration about the process. One person wrote:

“My concern is all the loopholes that may be there and hiding. I’m no lawyer. And who has the time to devote 3-6 months to study this document? Good attorneys charge ~$300 per hour. How bad do I want to understand the document?”

Well, Boerne taxpayer, ostensibly, you don’t need to hire your own lawyer. We, the residents, have one. It’s the city of Boerne attorney, whose salary is paid for by Boerne taxpayers.

But the fact that the city’s process has left some residents feeling they need their own lawyer to tell them what it all means is a troubling symptom in a situation that calls for clarity and openness. The city has taken the stance that it was not required to share the agreement early with the residents, only with City Council members. Why is that?

Often, rifts in communities start from the top, not at the grassroots.

Mayor Heckler, release a dove of peace from City Hall or quote the wisdom of Solomon, anything, but give us a couple more sentences beyond “Don’t let this issue divide the city.”

Esperanza, after all, is Spanish for “hope.”

Something was lost in translation when the development agreement was released on the Web at the 11th hour. Was it the people’s trust?